Leafs reveal starting goalie for Tuesday's Halloween matchup against the Kings
As the spookiest night of the year approaches, the Leafs' tandem of Joseph Woll and Ilya Samsonov seem to be trending in opposite directions. Samsonov started the season as the clear #1, but his play early on has been nothing short of a Nightmare on Bay Street. His game against the Nashville Predators was mercifully better than his last 2 starts, but he was still outduelled by Juuse Saros in a game the Leafs deserved to win. Woll, on the other hand, has been absolutely stellar in every game he's played with the exception of his first start of the season.
For Leaf fans, Jason Voorhees is the second scariest person in a hockey mask right now, not even close to Samsonov and his terrifying .841 SV% to start the season. If this continues, one has to imagine that Martin Jones will wind up starting a few games while Samsonov irons out the wrinkles in his mental game. Goalies are strange creatures, once that seed of doubt creeps in, pucks start doing the same. The demons and ghosts in Sammy's head are much scarier than any of the costumes you'll see on Tuesday.
As much as fans would like to see Woll play every game at this point, the fact is the Leafs will need both goalies to start, at minimum, 30 games. It's imperative that Samsonov finds his form again, and quickly. For Tuesday night's game, however, the Magnitogorsk native will be watching from the bench. Joseph Woll will get the nod when the LA Kings visit Scotiabank Arena.
Happy Halloween eve, folks!
